Teaching English Through Drama for EFL Adult Learners 研究生 : 張瓊惠 報告人 : 陳姵豫

Introduction  The primary goal of this study is to examine the effects of teaching English through drama on EFL adult learners.  How drama method affects EFL adult learners’ motivation, self-confidence, English proficiency, stereotypes, peer- interaction, and teacher student-interaction in terms of learning English was investigated.

 The subjects were 76 third-grade students from continuing education program of Chia-yi Senior High School in Chia-yi.  The researcher administrated the pretest of English learning survey before the teaching experiment. Then, the teaching experiment of drama method was carried for ten weeks. Therefore, the researcher administrated the post- test of English learning survey to see if any significant difference existed. Introduction

 The basic idea of it is that communicative ability is the goal of foreign language learning.  One of the implications is that a communicative approach opens up a wider perspective on language. Particularly, it makes us consider language not only in terms of its structures (grammar and vocabulary), but also in terms of the communicative functions that it performs.

Introduction  Another one of the implications is that a communicative approach opens up a wider perspective on language learning. They must also develop strategies for relating these structures to their communicative functions in real situations and real time (Brown, 2001).  Drama activities can provide a framework in which students have a real need to communicate. Second, drama activities provide a bridge between classroom and the real world. Third, they allow for creativity and involve the ‘whole person’.

Introduction  Many of the EFL students in Taiwan are lack in confidence in their oral ability since most of them seem to be reluctant to open their mouths for English because of their fear in losing face when making errors in grammar and pronunciation. Drama activities seem to be one of the best methods to change the situation.  How come a useful method appropriate only when adopted in certain group age of learners instead of all?  The researcher would like to attempt an experiment in the effects of teaching English through drama activities on adult EFL learners.

Purposes of the Study 1.First, it aims to know adult learners’ characteristics on English learning. 2. Second, it attempts to find out how teaching English through drama influence EFL adult learners in the aspects of motivation, self- evaluation, and participation. 3.Third, it is to investigate the comments of EFL adult learners towards drama activities. 4.Fourth, it intends to explore the subjects’ difficulties about English learning.

Research Questions 1.How does teaching through drama affect EFL adult learners’ learning motivation, self-evaluation, and participation in the aspects of learning English? 2.What are the responses of EFL adult learners towards learning English through drama? 3.What are the difficulties of EFL adult learners in terms of learning English through drama?

Teaching English through Drama  Teaching English through drama refers to the situation that teachers teach English through drama activities in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom (Su, 1992).  In this study, play reading, play-acting, and stage performance are principal activities in the classroom, which are named play-acting activities.

Limitations of the Study 1.the target population to be generalized should include all adult learners in continuing education in Taiwan since this study aims to explore the effects of English teaching through drama activities on adult learners in Taiwan. However, due to economic and regional considerations, the subjects in the study are restricted to the students in the continuing education program of a senior high school in Chia-yi.

Limitations of the Study 2.two self-reported questionnaires are used to collect the data in this study. The subjects may not completely answer the questions according to their authentic situation. 3.more studies can be further explored in this field.

LITERATURE REVIEW  language teachers should create an environment where acquisition can take place if they regard the development of communicative competence as their objective in the classroom (Krashen 1981; Krashen and Terrell, 1983; Su, 1992).  Kashen’s “Affective Filter Hypothesis” indicates that low anxiety, high motivation, and more self-esteem and self- confidence help promote second language acquisition (Kashen, 1981; Krashen and Terrell, 1983; Su, 1992).

LITERATURE REVIEW  In fact, not only does the drama itself provide “real” situations and require accurate responses, as Via (1975: ) mentioned, but the necessity for close cooperation among actors and stage personnel further enforces a dependence on the foreign language for successful communication.  This feeling of confidence eventually extends to improvisational situations where the students is actually expressing more of his own personality than he would ever dare do in an ordinary conversational situation (Via, 1975: ).

LITERATURE REVIEW  As Bolton (1984) stated, the New Education movement that started in the 1870s first introduced dramatic activity into classrooms.  Via indicates that we could have been seeing a number of papers and workshops on drama at most language conferences and finding an increasing number of books dealing with drama and drama activities for language learning since the middle of 1980s.

LITERATURE REVIEW  Hwung (1993), students will be better motivated if the chosen theme in a play reflects their experiences and current need.  Sharim-Paz (1976) brings up, the student-teachers gain much encouragement from the dialogues and improvisations they do in the class, and people have seen how powerfully their interest and enjoyment motivate them to develop their language skills.

METHODOLOGY  The subjects of this study consisted of 76 third-grade students in Continuing Education program of Chia-yi Senior High School (CYSH), including 37 female students and 39 male students.  The average of their ages was  English is a required course and takes four classes per week. Subjects

METHODOLOGY  The students’ English proficiency in this study was quite limited for several main reasons: 1)most of them were academically low-achievers while in junior high school, 2)some of them had quit school so long that they rarely remembered what they’d learned in junior high, 3)most of them are working during the day; therefore, they have difficulty in time-consuming subjects. Subjects

Methodology  Instruments in this study included (1)English Learning Survey – the pretest and (2)English Learning Survey – the post-test.  Besides, the Chinese version of both surveys was designed in order to be read easily and to eliminate students’ misunderstanding of the item statements. Instruments

English Learning Survey (ELS) -- Pretest  Based on Lin’s (2001) Pre-Drama Survey, Chang and Su’s (2000) questionnaire on the study of English oral performance, Lu’s (1992) questionnaire on learning motivation, Chang’s (2000) survey on adult learners, and Yang’s (1995) survey on the students of continuing education program, the ELS accommodated two sections (Appendix C).

English Learning Survey (ELS) -- Pretest

 Besides, the purpose of using section two of ELS in this study was an attempt to obtain the subjects’ past English learning experience on English learning. questions were placed on this section of the questionnaire to poll students’ 1>motivation of learning English, 2>self-evaluation on English learning, and 3>participation in English learning.

English Learning Survey (ELS) -- Pretest  Table 3.1 displayed the distribution of the issues in the items.

English Learning Survey – Post-test (ELS--Post)  The ELS--Post (Appendix F) included three sections. double- check the gender and age of all subjects. Section one aimed to Section two are 25 five-point scale Comments were items which are correspondence with section two in ELS—Pre. also invited at section three of the questionnaire.

English Learning Survey – Post-test (ELS--Post)

Procedure

Data Analysis  All the data collected in this study were analyzed in two types, including the qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis  Qualitative Analysis: The data obtained from the open-ended questions in post-test of ELS were transcribed and translated into English to find out the answers to the research questions. From this qualitative analysis, the researcher could have a better understanding to the impacts of the English drama program on English learning for adult students in continuing education program of senior high school.

Data Analysis  Quantitative Analysis: 1.The first data was from part one of pretest, covering the background information of the target subjects of this study. The answers to the multiple-choice questions were calculated by frequency, percentage, and then ranked. 2.part two of Pretest, including students’ past learning motivations, self-evaluation, and participation toward English learning. The students’ answers were calculated according to the five-point scale. 3.The third dada was from the answers to the 25 items in Post-test.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  It is obvious that the subjects consented that English speaking and listening abilities are important to a much larger extent after learning English through drama activities. Motivation

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  It is obvious that the subjects consented that English speaking and listening abilities are important to a much larger extent after learning English through drama activities. Motivation

Self-evaluation

Participation

Comments on Teaching English through Drama Activities

1.The results in Table 4.26 showed that most subjects enjoyed learning English through drama activities since dramatic games and performances added fun and variety to the routine curriculum. This mirrored what many researchers (Via, 1976; Cole, 1998) proclaimed that drama activities in English class could provide students with a relaxing classroom atmosphere to facilitate language learning. 2.Teaching English through drama activities could bring joy and add variety to the language class.

The Subjects’ Difficulties in English Learning

1.Many of them, such as poor memorization, no good English foundation in the past, and poor pronunciation, were related with age or maturational constraints. 2.Last but not least, minimal exposure to the target language was another noticeable obstacle to the subjects. This was supported by some researches that adult EFL learners in general are poor at spoken English, especially regarding fluency and control of expressions (Shumin, 1997).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICAIONS  The responses of EFL adult learners toward learning English through drama were mainly positive in terms of adding fun to English class, increasing friendships among peers, and developing listening and speaking abilities in English. However, some stated that drama activities were too time-consuming. Summary of the Study Major Findings

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICAIONS  The difficulties of EFL adult learners in terms of learning English included weak English foundation in the past, poor memorization, poor pronunciation, and little exposure to English. These results also support previous studies and theories that adult learners indeed have certain constrains in language learning (Ponterotto, 1992; Shumin, 1997). Summary of the Study Major Findings

Suggestions for Further Research  In order to have a better understanding of related topics, future researchers may take the following suggestions into account.  Future studies are suggested to adopt multiple methods, such as interview, observation and record, survey or diary, to obtain more detailed, abundant and explicit information.

Suggestions for Further Research  Since the subjects have various backgrounds, it is also meaningful and valuable o investigate the other dependent variables, such as classroom atmosphere and students’ family support.  The issue of drama teaching and EFL adult learners is complex, and there is little research on this aspect in Taiwan. There is clearly a need for much further research on drama teaching in EFL adults.